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Ideas of incarnation and works of harmony

Christianity uses the word “incarnation” mainly to refer to Jesus of Nazareth understood as the Word of God, come down from heaven and made flesh, a person in whom divine and human natures were mysteriously and gloriously united. Hinduism and Buddhism regard us all as having had previous …

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Shamanist ideas about integrating mind, body, and soul with spirit and nature

Beauty in nature, Science, Spiritual experience

A tangent is something that touches. Stephen’s comment on the previous blogpost touched the theme integrating body, mind, and soul with spirit. Stephen referred to shamanism, a topic worth pursuing. For all its errors, shamanism sometimes has intuitions that are worth re-theorizing, in other words, …

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Humanism, the mind-body problem, Antonio Damascio, and the center of gravity in a human life

Philosophy, Science, Spiritual experience

The conclusion of Descartes’ Error by Antonio Damascio reveals the mind of a humanist neuroscientist who nobly struggles to affirm soul and spirit while holding to the view that these higher realities are products of the mind, which is a product of the brain. “Mind comes from the brain.” (251) “The …

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Body, emotion, reason, soul, and Antonio Damascio

Science

Antonio Damascio is one of the top neuroscientists whose work directly touches on philosophical questions, and his clear and elegant writing is seasoned with relevant references to the arts. His blockbuster 1994 book, Descartes’ Error, explains that if the parts of our brain that support …

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How can an intellectually responsible person believe in everlasting life and a real heaven?

Science

Palomar Observatory Religion teaches hope for everlasting life, but current scientific cosmology seems to deprive that hope of material support. In The Last Three Minutes, Paul Davies first observes how speculative it is for astrophysics to extrapolate from present trends to a handful of possible …

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It’s easy to criticize the golden rule, harder to reply

Morality

In a cartoon strip by Scott Adams, the boss says, “We can make this a great place to work by following the golden rule. Treat others as you would want them to treat you.” Dilbert replies, “That’s dumb.” Boss: “It’s not dumb.” Dilbert: “Let’s test your rule. Would you like it if someone gave you a …

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